Hold the Line

Military action

Humans and Ambrians are called to protect Dawnveil Keep against a seige from the Teardrinkers.

For two days Dawnveil Keep had been under siege. Many of its walls smashed to ruin. The custodians of the Keep, the Veiled Priests, were reduced to three: Father Varntis, Sister Beatris and Brother Castiss. With little hope of surviving the oncoming night they prayed to every God they had ever heard of. Looking upon their small stash of Artefacts – their life’s work reduced to a handful, the Priests prayed for aid, for deliverance. In the amber light of dusk their prayers were answered: the Gateway within Dawnveil Keep thrummed to life and a line of Ambrians poured through.   “Guard the Walls, take arms!” Father Varntis yelled. The Ambrians were scared, disorientated. Where had their Gods taken them? But they obeyed, and lined the ruined walls of the fort. Enginers got to work repairing broken fortifications with what lumber was left over. “Hurry, they're coming!’   On the field in front of the fort stood two figures, adorned with the sigil of a crying eye and black tears smeared on their faces. One blew a horn. Another horn answered. Then another. Out of the dark light the enemy amassed. They fell upon the fort in waves, while their General stood idly by. If an enemy was slain, they would merely reappear at the General’s side and fight again. An enemy cannon rained ballista in deafening waves.   The Ambrians shouted orders, repairing palisades as quickly as they fell. They were surrounded. The Priests healed as fast as they could.   As night encroached, the walls were breached and the enemy surged into the fort with all their might. The Ambrians defended valiantly. In the confusion, the enemy managed to steal two Artefacts – a petrified shield of the Nords and the Ayotcoatl’s Macuahuitl. Pleased, the enemy called retreat. In the aftermath of the battle, three dead souls appeared in front of the General – two fighters from the Nords and a gunner from the 3rd Mud Infantry Engineering Core. They were given a choice – ultimate and permanent death, or a life as a Teardrinker; worshippers of Rhymír, God of Nihilism and Lust. One Nord chose death. The other two chose life.   “So you have chosen to join us, to join Rhymir,” the General smiled, as the cult of Teardrinkers formed a circle around their two converts. “Drink of his tears.” She handed the victims a cup, filled with the inky tears of their God. The victims acquiesced.   “Drink! Drink! Drink!” the Teardrinkers chanted. And so two more joined their ranks.   As the enemies returned to the darkness of the woods, the Veiled Priests revealed their task: to escape with as many surviving Artefacts as they could. These Artefacts were the legacy of the Undying, owner of Dawnveil Keep: a collection of magical and divine items taken, stolen and claimed by Lady Vivienne over the past thousand years, all so she might remove her curse.   Why Rhymir wanted the Artefacts was unknown, but the Ambrians would not let him have them. Since the Keep had been discovered by the Teardrinkers, there was no choice but to flee. The Veiled Priests believed that to open up the Gateway, the defenders needed to rebuild an Artefact stolen and broken by the Teardrinkers in their initial assault: The Pillar, an ancient Artefact of protection the Priests had never dared to use before. If they managed to find all three pieces and complete a ritual, it would grant a defensive barrier around the fort. Perhaps then the Gods would see fit to open the Gateway allowing the defenders to leave.   To power up the Pillar they would also need to scour the forest for divine sigils – fragments of divine energy released from the countless Artefacts destroyed by the Teardrinkers already. The next morning the Ambrians bravely ventured forth, searching also for lumber to repair their walls and stone to make ammunition. The Teardrinkers harried them, making their task difficult. Twice more, the Teardrinkers assaulted the fort, but in one battle the Ambrians managed to retrieve the Ayotcoatl’s Macuahuitl from the General’s own hand. And then, to make matters worse, a great beast emerged from the Darkness. It was as if the Teardrinkers intended to control it, but instead managed to force the beast to attack the Keep’s defences. The Ambrians held off attack after attack until the beast grew tired and retreated. The fourth Ambrian fell, an enginer from the Thorns.   Later in the day, some Ambrians discovered the Teardrinkers’ camp, where the Artefacts were being held, managing to take back some of their stolen items. They also discovered the base of the Pillar. In one of these retrieval missions another victim fell – one of the leaders of the Thorn Syndicate, who chose to join the cult.   The Leshen paid a visit to Dawnveil Keep – the same strange creature who had appeared in the Dark Winds, bringing more riddles. He gave the Ambrians a clue to the location of another Pillar piece, which was hidden in the great beast’s nest. The Ambrians sent out a large force, fighting off the beast and more Teardrinkers to secure it. But in that victory, another of their allies fell – a singular archer.   As more victims fell to the cult of Rhymír, more information was given to the Teardrinkers. Now they knew of the book the Priests kept that held the secrets of the Artefacts, and a precious Artefact – the Necklace of Hamulrit – that the Ambrians had evoked with a ritual and divine sigils to duplicate lumber and stone. With more in their force, the Teardrinkers mounted a vicious assault on the fort, aiming to take the book. They felled many Ambrians, and most distressingly, killed one of the Veiled Priests, Sister Beatris. The Teardrinkers swiped most of the Artefacts and piled them in the General’s hands – but they could not find the book. The Ambrians were cornered, their forces pushed back. The General called for a trade. Though her Lord God wanted Artefacts, she knew the book was more precious.   “I will trade Artefacts for the book.”   The Ambrians refused, and instead a different idea was devised and they asked, “We want our corrupted allies for the book.”   The General looked to the newest Teardrinkers. “It matters not.” They agreed, and the new Teardrinkers went forth, not knowing – but not caring – about their fate. While the Teardrinkers retreated with their biggest haul yet, the new Teardrinkers were taken back into the fort.   It was the Devil’s Grin, a strange and eerie flower that had the power to remove curses, that the defenders used to turn their allies back. The Ambrians performed a ritual, led by Voran of the Thorn Syndicate, in which their cursed allies writhed and screamed, but eventually looked at them with fresh eyes. It was as if the past hours had not happened, and all they remembered was coming through the Gateway. This did not come for free; the Devil’s Grin took fifty years of Voran's life, ten for each of those saved, and the ritual required the destruction of another Artefact, the Fate Stones, which was done by the hands of a young Nord.   Another familiar face paid a visit to Dawnveil Keep, attracted by the death and screams – the Lizardman. He, too, traded them for information. The third Pillar piece was revealed, and the entire force of Dawnveil Keep ventured forth. While the fort was unattended, a small group of Teardrinkers snuck in and pocketed the Devil’s Grin. The two remaining Priests tried to fight them off, and just as a Ranger returned to witness, the Teardrinkers fled into the forest. The Rangers managed to save more Artefacts, bringing them back to the fort, but not the flower.   In a simple resource-scouting mission, two members of the 3rd Mud Infantry Engineering Core stumbled into a Teardrinker ambush and were taken to the General. They both chose life. One who had already been turned in the first fight, but had no memory of his time as a Teardrinker, returned to their ranks.   These two joined the Teardrinkers in one final assault on the fort. As the second day fell into night, the Ambrians scrambled to protect the fort as the Veiled Priests powered up the completed pillar. One of the Nords wielded the Ayotcoatl’s Macuahuitl, activated by a ritual. As the great beast appeared again, he brandished the club in its face and turned it on the cult. Scattered, the Teardrinkers fought off the great beast and slayed it before it could do more damage. Losing time, they clashed again, beating at the palisades and trying to break through. The cranking of their cannon struck fear into the Ambrians, as ammunition smashed through walls and whistled by their ears.   The Ambrians took heavy losses. But then the ritual was complete and the Pillar was empowered – forming a protective shield around Dawnveil Keep. The Teardrinkers were stuck on the outside, beating against invisible walls. Meanwhile, the Gateway was opened. It was then that Brother Castiss stepped away from the Pillar, throwing its magic awry and headed to the Gateway.   “Brother Castiss! What are you doing? I can’t hold this myself!” Father Varntis was struggling to maintain the barrier and mages rushed forward to help him. The other Priest walked to the Gateway mocking Father Varntis as he pushed back his veil to reveal his face – the face of the Spider God’s Emissary. There he held the Bell of Challenge, an artefact devoted to Abaddon, Goddess of Revenge. Having stolen it after the first assault, the Emissary had guarded it greedily, but now with a smile of satisfaction he threw the Artefact through the Gateway.   The Ambrians were too stunned to react.   “Quickly! Through the Gateway!” Some shouted, dragging their injured allies with them. “I will help, as I already have,” the Spider God’s Emissary drawled. True to his word, he let the Ambrians through the Gateway first. As the last of them fled, Father Varntis couldn’t hold the barrier any longer and the Teardrinkers poured in. The Gateway snapped shut and left three Ambrians behind. The Teardrinkers fell upon the Emissary, stabbing him even after he was dead, and slaughtered an exhausted Father Varntis. Then, they formed a circle around the remaining Ambrians.   “Death forever, or life with us.” The General asked the first – an archer from the Thorns. He chose death and was slain. The second, the same leader of the Thorns they had turned previously, once again chose life as a Teardrinker. The last, a Ranger, looked at the General. “Fuck you.” And chose death.   The General looked upon the ruined fort and considered how many Artefacts they had taken. She turned to the Teardrinker who had stolen the Devil’s Grin and smiled.   “Praise Rhymír.” She knelt, and all the Teardrinkers knelt with her. Rhymír stepped forward and raised his hands. “You have done well my loyal Teardrinkers, but I fear my enemy still managed to get what he wanted.”